Upper Room Inclusive Catholic Community - Liturgies, Rituals and Ministries: Upper Room Weekend Liturgy, Saturday Nov 8 and Sunday Nov 9, 2025

Please join us between 9:30 and 9:55 am via Zoom

Here is the Zoom link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82512159155

phone-in for (audio only).Phone Number: (646) 558-8656

Welcome to liturgy this morning. We gather in love, with a commitment to act with integrity, speak the truth, and live in the hope that God’s Beloved Community will grow among us and beyond us.

Opening Prayer: “And the greatest of all commandments is this: To love God with your whole mind and soul and to love your neighbor as yourself.”

Opening Song: God Beyond all Names by Bernadette Farrell

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Htrmq0g_Nk

LITURGY OF THE WORD

First Reading: Excerpt from the 2018 address to the United Nations by New Zealand’s President, Dame Jacinda Arden

It seems surprising that in this modern age we have to recommit ourselves to gender equality, but we do. And I for one will never celebrate the gains we have made for women domestically, while internationally other women and girls experience a lack of the most basic of opportunity and dignity. ‘Me Too’ must become ‘We Too’.

Be it domestic, or international, we are operating in challenging times. We face what we call in New Zealand ‘wicked problems.’ Ones that are intertwined and interrelated. Perhaps then it is time to step back from the chaos and ask what we want. It is in that space that we'll find simplicity. The simplicity of peace, of prosperity, of fairness. If I could distill it down into one concept that we are pursuing in New Zealand it is simple and it is this. Kindness.

In the face of isolationism, protectionism, racism - the simple concept of looking outwardly and beyond ourselves, of kindness and collectivism, might just be as good a starting point as any. So, let's start here with the institutions that have served us well in times of need, and will do so again.

In the meantime, I can assure all of you, New Zealand remains committed to continue to do our part to building and sustaining international peace and security. To promoting and defending an open, inclusive, and rules-based international order based on universal values. To being pragmatic, empathetic, strong, and kind. The next generation after all, deserves no less.

Tena koutou, tena koutou, tena tatou katoa.

[From the Māori language, the indigenous Polynesian people of New Zealand]

These are the inspired words of Jacinda Arden who was representing her fellow citizens. We affirm them by saying AMEN!

Second Reading: An excerpt from The Luminous Darkness by Howard Thurman

There is a spirit abroad in life of which the Judeo-Christian ethic is but one expression. It is a spirit that makes for wholeness and for community; …it broods over the demonstrators for justice and brings comfort to the desolate and forgotten who have no memory of what it is to feel the rhythm of belonging … It knows no country and its allies are to be found wherever the heart is kind and the collective will and the private endeavor seek to make justice where injustice abounds.

Scripture Acclamation: More Light by Christopher Gundy

https://youtu.be/a8XaUlqb8t0

Third Reading from Scripture: Romans 16:3-27 [Excerpts]

³Greet Priscilla and Aquila, my co-workers in Christ Jesus. They risked their lives for me. Not only I but all the churches of the Gentiles are grateful to them. Greet also the church that meets at their house. Greet Mary, who worked very hard for you. Greet Andronicus and Junia, my fellow Jews who have been in prison with me. They are outstanding among the apostles, and they were in Christ before I was.

Greet Herodion, my fellow woman Jew. Greet Tryphena and Tryphosa, those women who work hard in the name of Jesus. Greet my dear friend Persis, another woman who has worked very hard in the name of Jesus. Greet Rufus, chosen in the Lord, and his mother, who has been a mother to me, too. Greet Philologus, Julia, Nereus and his sister, and Olympas and all the people who are with them.

Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the churches of Christ send greetings.

I urge you, brothers and sisters, to watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Keep away from them. For such people are not serving Jesus, but their own appetites. By smooth talk and flattery, they deceive the minds of naive people. Everyone has heard about your abidance, so I rejoice because of you; but I want you to be wise about what is good, and innocent about what is evil … The God of peace and the grace of Jesus be with you.

These are the words from a letter attributed to Paul and our community affirms them with AMEN.

Shared Homily

In our first reading we hear closing remarks from Jacinda Arden’s address to world leaders. These are words of wisdom from the language of the Māori, “Tena koutou, tena koutou, tena tatou katoa” translated as “Greetings, greetings, greetings to you all.” How interesting that her closing comment is a beginning. It is an invitation for elected leaders to be pragmatic, empathetic, and kind and begin forging a new world order based on these universal values.

Her speech also reminded the audience that 137 years ago New Zealand broke gender barriers when they became the first in the world to grant women the right to vote. This prophetic decision is a distant echo to the inclusive teachings of Jesus that encourages every nation to stand strong against exclusionary practices. Although she retired from politics in 2023, Jacinda continues to speak truth to power, planting seeds around the world with what she calls ‘empowering collectivism’. Practicing kindness in every day action is what we are called to do, which is the antithesis of isolationism, protectionism, and racism. “Who is the Other?” For Jacinda, “They are Us!”

In our third reading attributed to Paul, it is the first in the twenty-one books of letters that provides meaningful insight into early church gatherings. Women, who are often left unnamed in texts, are named in this early vision of ‘empowering collectivism’. The ‘official’ church reading for this weekend begins with verse 3 so we have included the first two verses for further contemplation: “I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a deacon at the church at Cenchreae (near Corinth in Greece) so that you may welcome her as is fitting for the saints for she has been a benefactress of many and of myself as well.”

The collaborative and inclusive nature of an early church gathering is wisdom. Each early disciple in this reading is acknowledged as crucial partners in Paul’s work of sharing the teachings of Jesus but also in growing the community of churches. There is a vividness in Paul’s descriptions. The women are described as courageous, hardworking, loving, and risk taking even to the point of being incarcerated along with Paul. He reveals his need and codependence on them. He holds deep gratitude for the way they show up in love and a gritty determination; a “I shall not be moved” from the sacred call to which they have responded. They are pastoral leaders and embody the spirit of which Howard Thurman speaks to in our first reading: the “spirit that makes for wholeness and for community” … bringing “comfort to the desolate and forgotten” and creating spaces of belonging.

Such wide-open spaces also require wisdom and discernment, so we do not get caught up in fruitless divisive debates or swayed by empty compliments and promises designed to distract us from the collective challenges we face. The need for collective action is infused by kindness, justice seeking practices, and a life changing solidarity with those who are most subject to systematic cruelty and invisibility. Let us learn to take risk for the sake of the current moment but also for the next generation’s longing for beloved community.

Please share the “Good News” that resonated for you as you heard their words.

Statement of Faith:

We believe in the Holy One, a divine mystery
beyond all definition and rational understanding,
the heart of all that has ever existed,
that exists now, or that ever will exist.

We believe in Jesus, messenger of the Divine Word,
bringer of healing, heart of Divine compassion,
bright star in the firmament of the Holy One's
prophets, mystics, and saints.

We believe that We are called to follow Jesus
as a vehicle of divine love,
a source of wisdom and truth,
and an instrument of peace in the world.

We believe in the Spirit of the Holy One,
the life that is our innermost life,
the breath moving in our being,
the depth living in each of us.

We believe that the Divine kin-dom is here and now,
stretched out all around us for those
with eyes to see it, hearts to receive it,
and hands to make it happen.

Prayers of the Community

As we prepare for the sacred meal, we bring to the table our prayers and intentions:

We pray for these and all unspoken prayers of our hearts. Amen.

LITURGY OF THE EUCHARIST

With open hands and hearts let us pray our Eucharistic Prayer together:

All: O Holy One you have sent prophets and messengers to show us the way-Abraham, Sarah and Hagar, Moses and Jesus, Buddha and Mohammad, Hildegard and Teresa, Oscar and Dorothy, and all of us here and now who celebrate this liturgy today.

Everything we do, we do together with You. We cannot be without You. We cannot be without each other. You are made visible in this world with our acts of love and kindness. With grateful hearts we raise our voices and sing

Holy, Holy: Here in This Place by Christopher Grundy

https://youtu.be/sgkWXOSGmOQ

All: Holy One, slowly this world is moving toward oneness. Your pattern of Love is in everything and there are messages of Love in every pattern. Help us to stand with each other in love and suffering. The pain of one, is the pain of all. May we co-create with You and restore balance and harmony in our world.

Please extend your hands in blessing.

We are ever aware of your Spirit in us and among us at this Eucharistic table and we are grateful for this bread and wine which reminds us of our call to be the body of Christ in the world

Please extend your hands in blessing.

We are ever aware of your Spirit in us and among us at this Eucharistic table and we are grateful for this bread and wine which reminds us of our call to be the body of Christ in the world.

On the night before he died Jesus did more than ask us to remember him. He showed us how to live when he washed the feet of his friends.

Lift the bread

All: At the table, he took the Bread, spoke the grace, broke the bread and offered it to them saying:

Take and eat of the Bread of Life

Given to strengthen you

Whenever you remember me like this

Go and share your love with one another. (pause)

Lift the cup

ALL: Jesus then raised a cup of blessing, spoke the grace saying:

Take and drink of the covenant

Made new again through my life in you.

Whenever you remember me like this,

I am among you.

We share this bread and cup to proclaim and live the gospel of justice and peace. Please receive this bread with the words: God and I are one.

Communion Song: I Will Sing of Your Love, Love, Love by Christopher Grundy

https://youtu.be/AUyjdGNIYH4

ALL: Holy One, your transforming energy is within us, and we join our hearts with all who are working for a just world. We pray for wise leaders in our religious communities. We pray for courageous and compassionate leaders in our world communities.

Let us pray together the prayer of Jesus:

O Holy One who is within, around and among us,
We celebrate your many names.
Your wisdom come; your will be done,
unfolding from the depths within us.
Each day you give us all that we need.
You remind us of our limits and we let go.
You support us in our power, and we act with courage.
For you are the dwelling place within us,
the empowerment around us,
and the celebration among us, 
now and forever. Amen.

Adapted from Miriam Therese Winter

We pray for all of us gathered here and like Jesus, we open ourselves up to your Spirit, for it is through living as he lived that we awaken to your Spirit within,

moving us to glorify you, at this time and all ways. AMEN.

All: Loving Source of our being, we are called to live the gospel of peace, love and kindness. This is our faith, to embrace life, to increase love, to have courage to be and walk into the mystery of your presence.

BLESSING

Please extend your hands and pray our blessing together.

Holy One we know you as the voice of kindness within us and the constant hope that lives in our hearts. We are grateful for the gifts of your Spirit. You planted the seeds for life to bring beauty and balance out of chaos so that we might truly be brought together as one people.

And like Jesus,

Standing where he stood,

and for what he stood,

and with whom he stood,

we are united in your Spirit

now and forever. Amen.

Closing Song: Song Like a Seed by Sara Thomsen

https://youtu.be/5CXoyhfSo4Y?si=OSPp7em1Oz54VJa2